EU threatens Poland with sanctions over court overhaul

The EU warned Poland's right-wing government Wednesday to suspend controversial court reforms or risk unprecedented sanctions, sharply escalating a standoff with Warsaw.

European Commission vice president Frans Timmermans said Brussels could launch disciplinary action next week, and threatened to move towards halting Poland's voting rights in the 28-nation bloc further down the line.

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in Polish cities against the governing Law and Justice party's reforms, which would give parliament powers over the selection of judges.

"These laws considerably increase the systemic threat to the rule of law in Poland," Timmermans said after a high-level meeting.

"Collectively, they would abolish any remaining judicial independence and put the judiciary under full political control of the government."

Poland defended the reforms, saying it would find its own solutions "without external assistance".

"It is not the intention of either the ministry of justice or the parliamentary majority to weaken the power of the judges, deputy foreign minister Konrad Szymanski was quoted as saying by the Polish news agency PAP.

- East-West split -

The clash underscores a growing rift between Brussels and many eastern member states, where populist and increasingly authoritarian governments are pushing for greater sovereignty, particularly over migration.

The EU first warned Poland in early 2016 over reforms of the constitutional court by the Law and Justice party, which won elections in late 2015.

The European Commission said in a statement that it "urges the Polish authorities to put the new laws on hold" and that it would "swiftly prepare infringement procedures for breach of EU law" against Warsaw to be discussed next week.

EU states can be taken to the bloc's highest court and eventually given stiff fines for such breaches.

But Timmermans added that "we are very close to triggering article seven" -- the bloc's never-before used "nuclear option" that can halt a country's right to vote in EU meetings.

Poland would, however, likely escape such a measure as it would be vetoed by its ally Hungary.

Timmermans also spoke out against the intimidation of journalists who have been critical of the Polish government, adding: "In darkness democracy dies".

Rights group Amnesty International said the EU's Article 7 threat was a "positive step". 

The latest of the Polish reforms -- a draft law giving the justice minister power to make appointments to the supreme court -- triggered angry exchanges in the Polish parliament late Tuesday.

Law and Justice party chief Jaroslaw Kaczynski said opponents "murdered" his brother Lech Kaczynski, the then-president of Poland, who was killed in a jet crash in Russia in 2010.

- Surprise compromise -

On Sunday, thousands rallied in Warsaw and other cities against reforms endorsed last week by parliament and more protests took place Tuesday in Warsaw.

The first of those laws stipulates that from now on the parliament will choose the members of the National Council of the Judiciary, which oversees the selection of judges and is meant to protect the independence of the courts. 

The second bill states that the justice minister will name the chief justices of Poland's common courts.

Both texts need only to be signed by President Andrzej Duda, who is closely allied with the Law and Justice party, to become law.

But Duda, in a surprise move on Tuesday, warned he would not approve the supreme court reform unless lawmakers amended the bill on the judiciary council to ensure that the Law and Justice Party would not have complete control over its composition.

Relations between Warsaw and Brussels have deteriorated in recent months, with Poland making a failed bid to scupper the re-election of European Council president Donald Tusk, a former Polish premier and bitter foe of the Kaczynskis.

Brussels has stepped up the pressure on several eastern members by taking legal action against Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic over a series of issues in recent weeks.

Source: AFP